TVs Analog Push-Back: Delaying the Switch to Digital Television

Nearly 12 years after the call for a switch to digital television. But just a few weeks away, money has dried up for converter box coupons and many argue that the public still is not ready for the switch. Now, Congress is considering delaying the analog TV shutdown for a few more months. Heres why the United States may not be ready for an all-digital TV broadcasting system just yet.

On Feb. 17, 2009, analog television broadcasts in the United States are scheduled to end forever, giving way to a 100 percent digital television system. At least, that is the current plan. The digital television transition has been delayed more than two years since the original deadline and, as we get within weeks of DT-Day, problems are popping up that may push the date back even further.

As of Jan. 14, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) program had mailed out 44.6 million government-issued coupons to defray the cost of DTV converter boxes. (There's a limit of two coupons per household.) Of those, 19.8 million had been redeemed, 13.7 million coupons were about to pass their 90-day expiration deadline, and 11 million were still active but unused.

The problem? Congress's initial allocation of funds--$1.34 billion--has been used up, leaving millions of households without access to the coupons. Apparently, the demand was higher than anticipated, and Congress is now worried that many constituents will be stuck paying the full price for a converter box as they frantically prepare for DTV. The boxes cost about $60.

All new applications for NTIA coupons are being put on a wait list, which now has more than 2 million requests--and that list is growing. Because its initial budget allocation has run out, all the NTIA can do is wait for unredeemed coupons to expire, which will free up more funding, or go hat in hand to Congress and ask for more money--or do both.

Meanwhile, the Federal Communications Commission, local TV stations and legislators are all being bombarded with letters, e-mails and phone calls complaining about the cut-off date and the NTIA coupon program--and questioning the government's shutting down the analog TV system in the first place. And, everyone from President Obama to the FCC commissioners to Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., is recommending that the analog shutdown be pushed back a few more months--say, to mid-June.

But the NTIA isn't happy with that plan. When we asked for a comment on the proposed delays, Bart Forbes, spokesman for the NTIA, emphasized that the Feb. 17 deadline was already a delay from the original deadline of Dec. 31, 2006. Forbes also pointed to comments to Congress by outgoing commerce secretary Carlos Gutierrez who stated, "I am writing to urge no delay in realizing the benefits of this important initiative."

Moving the date back another four months would be good news for viewers who need to replace their outside TV antennas but didn't do so before winter set in--particularly residents of northern states. And it would allow more time for funds from unused coupons to flow back into the system.

But there are major disadvantages to a delay, starting with the thousands of TV stations that have had to operate both analog and digital TV transmitters for the past 10-plus years. These stations have done their homework--they're ready for DT-Day, and would really like to cut back their electric bills by shutting down their analog transmitters once and for all. And there are more than a few new digital TV stations that can't even go on the air until the current analog occupants of their channels move out.

Any delay in the DTV transition could also slow plans for using pieces of the soon-to-be-vacant spectrum of TV channels from 52 through 69; this spectrum was bought by investors such as AT&T and Google. Also waiting for a spot on that spectrum are hundreds of public safety agencies looking for more desperately needed emergency radio frequencies within those same channels.

On the other hand, the switch could hit vulnerable citizens--the poor, the elderly, the disabled and those with language barriers--the hardest, says Sen. Jay Rockefeller. "We risk leaving those who are most reliant on over-the-air broadcast television for their information literally in the dark," he tells PM. "This is why I have introduced a bill to delay the date of the DTV transition to June 12, 2009."